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Following up on my post last week about how to market a home in Waynesboro/Augusta … This is Step Two … working with the sellers …

What are the chances that I, the listing agent, could have written the following? It speaks to virtually every question a buyer in Stuarts Draft might have about the home – what’s nearby? What is the neighborhood like? What do they love about living in their home?

Location:

Our home is located two houses down from the end of the cul-de-sac which backs to the George Washington National Forest. This is ideal location for us because there is minimal traffic which offers a safe environment for children to ride bikes and play outside.

Our home is not centered on our half acre of property creating a huge functional side yard. This large side yard abuts the large side yard of our neighbor’s property adding additional privacy and space between our homes. We have several large trees on either side yard as well as a wooded area along the back of the property. We love the natural privacy it creates between our neighbors. These woods are the home to a stream, many song birds, squirrels, rabbits, frogs, turtles, and the occasional deer passing through. We have spent many mornings, afternoons, and evenings out on our deck enjoying a cup of coffee, grilling, eating, relaxing with friends, and enjoying all of sights and sounds of nature.

Our home faces East so we get the best of the morning sunshine without baking in the afternoon heat. This also allowed us to use our front porch to its fullest extent. We spent many an afternoon sipping iced tea or cold beer and evenings just rocking and enjoying the sounds of the crickets, peepers, and owls.

Our neighborhood does not have street lights so we have just loved reclining on the front lawn looking up at the millions of stars. Seeing the occasional meteor shower is something we just can’t describe in words.

Forest Spring Estates is just a short drive from a bunch of local shops such as the Cheese Shop, Miller’s Bake Shop (The homemade Cinnamon buns are to die for!), Post Office, 2 hair salons, 2 Chinese buffets, Snap 24/7 Fitness, Milmont Nursery and Eavers Tire and Auto Repair (a very reliable group). The following chains are also within the same 10 minute drive: Rite Aid, Seven Eleven, Dairy Queen, Food Lion, Ace Hardware, BB&T, Community Bank, BP Fuel, Citgo Fuel , Subway, and Dominoes Pizza. There are two local Italian restaurants as well as great fresh local farm stand.

If you’re willing to venture 15 minutes while enjoying the beautiful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, cattle grazing, and corn fields, you have access to new development that contains Target, Kohls, Petsmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, Michaels, Books a Million, Rack Room Shoes, Dress Barn, Rue 21, Hallmark, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, Pro Nail, and a couple other small stores. This mall also houses Anytime Fitness. Travel 2 minutes farther and you can take advantage of all the stores and restaurants in Waynesboro such as Super Walmart, Martins Grocery Store and Fuel, Home Depot, Lowes, AppleBees, Ruby Tuesdays, KFC, Starbucks, Sonic, Rudy’s Dry Cleaners, Game Stop, Hair Cuttery, ABC, and South River Grill & Wine Shop.

If you’re an adventurer or love the outdoors, our home is 15 minutes from Sherando Lake and George Washington National Park which has camp sites, fishing, hiking trails, and a wonderful beach side lake for swimming and picnicking/barbecuing. Stuarts Draft is also two exits away on Rt. 64 from Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. From these two roads there are many opportunities for hiking, to stop at scenic look outs, and view exquisite fall foliage.

One of the reasons we chose to build this home was for the spacious rooms and functional floor plan. The entire first floor with the exception of the bathroom, laundry room, and bedroom, boast finished- in-place hardwood floors. This makes cleaning a breeze especially when you have little ones spilling stuff and throwing food on the floor. There is never a need to worry about stains or getting the carpet shampooed. Both the living room and dining room have two windows that run just about from floor to ceiling allowing for all the morning sun to stream in. The dining room with its decorative crown molding and chair rail can easily accommodate our 104” table (seats 10) and hutch without feeling crowded in the least. In fact, the one wall looks a bit bare and could easily accommodate a server without guests feeling cramped. The dining room is a few steps away from the kitchen which is open to the breakfast nook and family room.

With the kitchen being the heart of the home, this is by far our favorite feature of the first floor. With this set up, we are able to cook and prepare meals while spending time with our guests and family as well as stealing a glimpse at the TV. We added one long counter top from the original plans which was probably the smartest thing we could have done. It allows for a huge food preparation work space and has a dual use as breakfast bar the can seat four or a buffet type serving area. It also houses our ultra quiet dishwasher so as not to disturb us while watching TV. The large pantry is something we will truly miss along with the bountiful cabinet and drawer space. The sliding glass door in the family room leads to deck making grilling a breeze. Having these glass doors along with the three windows in the breakfast nook and one above the sink, this entire area is so nice and bright. In addition, the gas fireplace with mantel is a lovely and functional center piece for the room. It’s so nice in the winter to curl up with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa in front of the fire. It’s also the perfect place to hang the Christmas stockings of course! The nooks on either side would lend perfectly for built-in bookcases.

Unlike many homes, the first floor has a full bath right next to a large bedroom. It is located off the short hall beyond the kitchen on the complete opposite end of the house from the master bedroom. It’s been a wonderful guest room as guests don’t feel like they are disturbing us if they get up early or stay up late and they don’t feel cramped when they bring in their luggage. It provides both the guest and home owner with privacy during their stay.

The front foyer with its cathedral ceiling and tremendous window is extremely bright and welcoming. Up the flight of oak stairs, you’ll find a huge master bedroom that can accommodate even the bulkiest of bedroom sets. We’ve always loved waking up to watch the sunrise out our windows. The two closets allow for plenty of storage and the jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom is incredibly relaxing. The large window next to the tub again lets in plenty of natural light. We had cellular shades custom installed on all of our windows throughout the house which allows for privacy but without shutting out any of the natural light. Hence, you can feel like you’re at a spa and not upset the neighbors.

Upstairs there is a hall bathroom with double sinks giving plenty of room for children sharing a bathroom. The front bedroom easily fits a twin bed, crib, a toy box, bookshelf, glider, and changing table with tons of room to play. It too faces East and is so bright and sunny throughout the day. The rear bedroom has a window facing the backyard woods which lets in the afternoon rays. Both bedrooms boast large closets with plenty of room to hold toys and extra clothes. At the end of the hall is a fifth bedroom or bonus room. It is a blank slate waiting for you to determine its fate – bedroom for kids, playroom, home office, home gym, den/media room, take your pick!

We have abundant closet space throughout including a coat closet and linen closet on the first floor, a linen closet in the second floor hall bathroom, and a second floor hall closet. The oversize garage was perfect for installing some stand alone shelving units to store seasonal items, clothes, and gardening/yard tools and equipment.

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With a new listing … this is not just a post about a new listing, but a post about a new way to list, using tools and technologies that I have not yet seen in the Waynesboro or Augusta real estate markets …

This is part one of a three part series.

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Awesome.

A 12-screen cinema, offices, restaurants and housing have been proposed on 42 acres off Windigrove Drive and Interstate 64 near Home Depot in Waynesboro, city officials said Tuesday.

Thanks to the News Virginian for the scoop.

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Should you Rent or Buy?

by Steve Watson on March 30, 2009

There is no shortage of news these days about “first time” home buyers. The media and various real estate organizations and even Realtors themselves are all telling us that this is a BUYERS MARKET, and that anyone who wants to buy a home should certainly rush out and do so. The answer to the questions whether you should rent or buy is that it depends. Well you ask,  what does it depend on? The short answer is that it depends on your personal situation and circumstances! The only person who can really decide this one is YOU. With that said, here are some items to consider as you weigh this decision.  Do you enjoy not having to do repairs on your place, cut grass, shovel snow, etc.

?  On the other side of the fence, are you tired of giving your money every month to someone and having nothing to show for it? Do you long to paint a room, plant some trees or add a special room just for you?  These are the emotional issues that have no right or wrong answer, but are particular to your makeup. Talking to friends and family who own homes about their experiences may help to clarify the pros and cons of home ownership.

If,  at the end of the day, you come away deciding that home ownership is in the cards, I’ll give you some very specific ways to calculate the cost of home ownership vs. rent when I pen the next blog. Til then, you can feel free to visit my website where you can have a look at what’s available in your area. As always, be a blessing to someone this week.

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We left Part I of selling your home at the point where you’d fixed, painted and de-cluttered your home to show it in the best possible light. You also have priced to position yourself in the top 25% of homes on the market that are comparable to yours.

Let’s assume that your Realtor partner has done his/her job and you now have an offer in front of you. The shock you’re now very likely to encounter is that of the dreaded “low ball offer”. Your first inclination is to tell your Realtor to tell the buyers agent to go pound sand. All this work you’ve down and someone has the gall to offer you $30,000 below your asking price! Well Dorothy, you’re not in Kansas anymore! Buyers have heard over and over that it’s a “buyer market” and if you don’t steal the house, you haven’t gotten a real bargain.

Take off your emotional hat and put on your business hat. Use the offer as a starting point, and work towards negotiating a selling price that you can live with. Work with your Realtor to counter the offer with the idea that you want to keep the buyers in this game until you can assess how serious they are and whether they really want to make this deal happen.

If their ACTIONS indicate they are serious, then your chances of a successful transaction have just improved! Keep in mind that what $$$ you give up on the sale, could potentially be more then made up when it’s your turn to purchase.

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  • @AFPChrisGraham Did you see this story about how global news is the new “local”? http://is.gd/mhlu in reply to AFPChrisGraham #
  • River City 2020 meeting last night led to more questions than answers – what do we want Waynesboro’s new identity to be? #
  • Waynesboro/Stuarts Draft got nice little plugs yesterday afternoon on CNBC in a mention about Hershey’s hiring #

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Assuming that you the seller, are not simply “testing the real estate waters”, and that you have a compelling reason to sell your home in the current market, what you’re about to read is the painful truth, at least as this Realtor sees it. First and foremost, to be a successful seller in this market means finding an aggressive Realtor whom you can trust and can have a strong working relationship with. Your wife’s friend who just got in the business is probably NOT your Realtor of choice.  Instead, find a real estate partner with a common sense marketing plan and a strong sense of commitment to the task at hand. The next item of business is to have your Realtor go through your home with you and using ” BUYERS EYES”, make a detailed list of items that need attention, i.e. paint the girls room off white (instead of pink), clean the carpets, cut down the dead tree in the front yard, clean the windows, organize the clutter, etc., etc. The old adage that you have only one chance to make a first impression, holds true today more then ever. Buyers simply have too many choices to be bothered with painting your home or replacing the roof in order to make your home theirs. It’s much easier to go down the street to the home that’s in “ship shape” and by the way is priced more aggressively then yours. The unvarnished truth is that if your home doesn’t stand out from a pricing and an appeal perspective, your chance to sell is non-existent. Take the following example: Let’s say you want to purchase a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in either Augusta Co. or Waynesboro and want to look in the 190,000 to 200,000 price range. There are currently 20 homes for sale in that narrow range.  So if your home doesn’t fit into the top 25% in that list, in appeal and price, then I suspect you have an idea as to your chances of a sale!  Stay tuned for part 2, next time.

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What follows is a brief summary provided by the National Association of Realtors on the proposed changes to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009:

Educate yourself by reading the entire bill at OpenCongress – you’d likely be the first and only person in the world to do so.

Government Affairs Tax Credit Chart 021308

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Regardless of your politics, it is evident that an economic stimulus package is all but a done deal. It is widely believed that President Obama will have a bill on his desk to sign on Presidents Day, February 17. One measure in the stimulus package that has direct application to our troubled housing market, is a revised version of the first time home buyers tax credit,  first implemented in 2008.

Under the new version, first time home buyers (those who have not owned a home within the last 3 years), would be eligible for a tax credit of up to 10% of the purchase price of the home, not to exceed $8,000.  As you might expect, there are numerous conditions attached to the plan, for example,  a single first time home buyer must earn less than $75,000 per yer, married couples filing jointly are limited to $150,000 yearly income. Just how effective this credit will be in stimulating first time buyers into the market remains to be seen.

According to the National Association of Realtors, 41% of all home buyers in 2008 were first timers, up from 36% in 2006. If you’ve been fence sitting and looking for an opportunity to enter the housing market, the tax credit may be enough incentive for you to take the plunge. My advice would be to check with you tax professional before you buy to make sure that you qualify. If you’d like more detailed information on the credit, please e-mail me.

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